TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2022//
TI  - Competent witnesses: how penitentiary workers explain the violence in Italian prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic
JO  - International journal of environmental research and public health
A1  - Testoni, Ines
A1  - Viezzoli, Davide
A1  - Biancalani, Gianmarco
A1  - Armezzani, Maria
A1  - Zamperini, Adriano
SP  - e13717
EP  - e13717
VL  - 19
IS  - 21
N2  - BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, in the Italian prison of Santa Maria Capua Vetere (SMCV), prison police repressed a riot with extreme violence, bringing the state of prisons and the conditions of prisoners back to the attention of the Italian public opinion. <br><br>OBJECTIVE: This exploratory study aimed to collect the experiences and the competent opinions of the social and health personnel of Italian prisons regarding the episode of violence that happened in SMCV; the general state of health of the Italian prison system was explored, too, together with the collection of proposals for interventions aimed at the eradication of violence in prison. <br><br>METHOD: The study employed a qualitative research design. Eighteen social-health workers from 12 Italian prisons were interviewed using in-depth interviews of ~60 min each that were conducted and recorded via Skype video calls. The interview transcripts were analyzed with qualitative reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) to identify the most relevant and recursive themes. <br><br>RESULTS: Four themes were identified: (1) reactions and thoughts about the events of SMCV; (2) structural problems of Italian prison police; (3) Italian prison system; and (4) reform proposals. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: A new and deeper awareness of the suffering of the current Italian penitentiary system emerged, together with courageous reform proposals that can restore dignity and centrality to the re-education of the detainees, preventing further future violence.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1661-7827
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192113717
ID  - ref1
ER  -